“I can think of worse ways.” Still, Dane sped up his stroking further. His belly tightened again and his balls pulled up. From the look on Aras’s face, he must have been close too. His eyes were unfocused, mouth hanging slightly open, and pink feathered up from his chest to his neck to his cheeks underneath the brown-olive skin.
Aras gasped and his fingers tightened around Dane’s shoulders, bordering on painful. He shot offintoDane’s foreskin, surrounding the over-sensitive head of his cock with hot cum. That pushed him over the edge, as it forced its way out over his fingers, running out of room for the load. Dane’s ass clenched tight and his head tilted back. Even in the waning throes of his own orgasm, Aras didn’t release him, didn’t let him fall as his weight shifted once again on the slick tiles. Held up by nothing other than Aras’s own strength, Dane’s body tensed and his cock twitched and he shot cum out. The seal broke and it blasted three, four times, hitting the floor and Ara’s thighs and of course all over his junk.
Finally, it ended, and the only sounds were the two of them panting and the water still cascading from the shower head.
Aras ran his hands down Dane’s body until he was under Dane’s armpits, then held him up until he got his feet back under him again. He was still grinning. “Intense. Never docked with a guy before.”
“I haven’t much.” Dane tilted his head up and let the water rinse over his scalp and through his hair before he looked back at Aras. “Probably a little late, but should we talk STIs?”
“I’m clear.”
“Me too.” A slight pressure released from Dane’s belly. “Should have talked about it before, though.”
“No harm no foul.” Aras reached around him—which also happened to press Aras almost up against him in the process—and gathered some water in cupped hands. He dumped it down his front and his legs to wash away the remnants of cum. “Should we actually shower, now?”
“If you think you can resist my wiles.” Dane shifted his hips to the side, just enough to make it clear he was showing off his ass.
To his surprise, Aras’s mouth opened slightly, and a new crash of pink washed over his cheeks and forehead. “I’ll resist temptation. If I can. But Ilikedrimming you.”
“Well, you’re the first one who didn’t treat it like part of a negotiation.” He reached for the body wash and deposited a small dollop in his hand, then began to lather it up before he ran his hands up and down Aras’s chest and stomach. “Usually, it’s more ‘I stick my tongue up your ass and you let me fuck you’ kind of thing.”
“No worries there.” Aras sighed and looked up to the ceiling. “I’m a bottom. I mean, I’ll make do if you want, but—”
“I’d rather top anyway.” Dane let his hands drift downward. It wasn’t erotic, necessarily, rubbing over Aras’s shaft and the insides of his thighs, but it was still intimate. Aras allowed Dane to wash him with no reaction from his cock, no attempt to pull away or make a joke.
This was far, far more connection than the rimming or the docking or the sixty-nine.
Chapter twenty-eight
Aras
Ittookfartoolong for Aras to get his head back about him when he got to the job site. He was fine at his job, and luckily there was still some busy work to be done that he didn’t need full focus to accomplish. He helped Ozzy with some outdoor lighting and power issues, and he installed, checked, double-checked, and triple-checked the shower light. He couldn’t help a self-satisfied grin, and he made sure to track down the guy from the contracting crew who had bickered about it with him, just to make sure he could see it. Petty? Yes. Appropriate? Also yes, as far as he was concerned. No one else was going to ensure he understood his stupid, mistaken position. He also waited to show the guy until Caroline was there, so her gushing over the light was part of it. This washerhouse, not an investment to be resold at a later date, and she liked the light in the shower.
Jake waved him down between projects, wearing a tank top and covered in saw dust, with safety goggles pushing his hair up away from his face. Not at all Aras’s type, even aside from knowing Jake way too well for way too long, but he had to admit, Jake wore that kind of mess well. Before he could say anything, Aras took the chance to poke at him. What else were friends for? “You want to snap a picture? Send a pic of you looking like that and Quinn’ll cream his jeans in half a second.”
Jake paused, cocked his head to the side…then pulled out his phone. “Actually yeah.” He handed the phone over, then took a step back and lifted up his tank top to show off his abs, which somehowalsohad a smattering of sawdust on them. “He shot me a pic of himself in the shower yesterday and I haven’t had any good ammunition to fire back. This’ll be perfect.”
Aras couldn’t even be annoyed about it. He took three pictures, doing his best, then handed the phone back over. “What were you running up for before I graced you with my advice?”
“Lighting. I’ve got the structure for the shelves done, and everything’s stained and good to go on my end. That Rachel they brought in to do the detailed woodworking stuff is a whirlwind, so the faces and trim and everything shouldn’t be too much longer. Figure it’s time to pass it on to the expert.” He clapped Aras on the shoulder. It seemed like he was about to lose his balance, but Aras let that go. He’d brought up Jake’s clumsiness on more than one occasion over the years, but he never went to get it checked or seemed like he was trying to work on it, and he hadn’t lost any fingers yet.
Aras sighed. “I take it I’m the expert?”
“That’s what it says on your underwear, right?”
“Unlike some of us, I don’t need to label mine.”
“Right, you’re still single.” Jake patted him on the back. “You’ve got to let me try and hook you up with someone.” They talked while they walked outside and to the white tent where they were doing the woodworking. Well, multiple tents in this case. “You’ve got a lot to offer, if someone gets under that sourpuss attitude of yours.”
“Flattery might get me to agree more readily.” Robinson knew about Dane, so Aras had kind of assumed that everyone else had figured it out too. But apparently not Jake.
When they got to the tents, there were just a bunch of simple shelving units, and Rachel sitting at a table littered with tools, grinding a pattern into a lath of wood. And she had headphones in, so for Aras’s calculations she didn’t count. It felt like a tiny spark of fire in his belly, and it was growing the longer he contemplated his options. He and Jake were friends, after all. And it would be the first time he couldtellanyone about…whatever he and Dane were. Or at least tell anyone who wasn’t already clued in. “I actually don’t need you to find anyone for me.”
“I mean, if you’re cool being alone, I won’t push it, but I think—”
“Meaning flew right over your head. Again.” Aras rounded the back of the nearest set of shelves. It had all the open channels and access for adding lights, just like they’d discussed. Good to check, and also good to have a little barrier between himself and Jake. “I already have someone. For now.”
In a second, Jake was on him. He ripped the safety goggles off and tossed them on a nearby table, then grabbed Aras’s shoulders with both hands. “You have a secret boyfriend? Why have I not met him? Who is he? Fuck the job. You, me, Bunny, Robinson, we’re all going to a bar and pumping you full of tequila until you spill.”
